Another election season begins with local filing today

Candidates will head to their village halls today as the filing period for begins next spring's local election.

In area suburbs where primaries are possible - namely Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg and Palatine - candidates have from 8 a.m. today to 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 15 to file.

The general election takes place April 7, 2009. If necessary, primary elections will take place Feb. 24, 2009.

The busiest village hall Monday morning could be in Palatine, where Mayor Rita Mullins has said she'll seek a sixth term and where three others - Warren Kostka, Vito Manola and Jim Schwantz - have announced they'll run against her.

Palatine Village Clerk Marg Duer also plans to seek re-election. Like Mullins, Duer has held the seat since 1989. Councilmen Mike Jezierski, Greg Solberg and Brad Helms also announced they'll run again.

In Schaumburg, Trustees Marge Connelly, Tom Dailly and Jack Sullivan are up for re-election.

Connelly and Sullivan both said they plan to run again. Dailly could not be reached for comment, but Sullivan said he believed Dailly also has been circulating candidacy petitions.

In Hoffman Estates, Mayor William McLeod announced back in February his plans to run for another term. He's running as a slate with Trustees Raymond Kincaid and Karen Mills.

Trustee Jackie Green also announced she'd run again on McLeod's ticket along with Village Clerk Bev Romanoff, who was appointed after Virginia Hayter retired in 2007.

The need for a primary election in any of these communities depends on the number of candidates who file.

For suburbs and other local governments that don't have primaries, like school, library and park boards, the candidate filing period takes place in January.

• Staff writers Ashok Selvam and Eric Peterson contributed to this report.